Thursday, June 6, 2013

TMNT "Random" Reviews: "Enter: the Fly"

Fred Wolf Episode #12

Written by Michael Reaves and Brynn Stephens

Directed by Bill Wolf

Original Air Date: November 12, 1988.

--So, I picked out a couple Baxterfly episodes for myself to review, to
round out a small and incomplete batch of FW Baxter Stockman episodes. I
might pick out a few Splinter-centric episodes to do, since both are my
favourite characters in the show, but Splinter is much harder to write
about, since his episodes often involve things happening with
him, and not to him, and Splinter is almost never not on top of things.
That makes him an easy character for a child to admire, a hard
character for an adult to write about

--And
at the moment any review of my other favourite episodes of the old
cartoon would involve a series of “wasn’t it funny when...” posts which
just aren't that interesting. It’s sometimes hard for me to write about
the old cartoon, which is in a weird zone between childhood and now.

--Anyway,
turning into a fly seems to be considered the most interesting and
memorable thing Baxter Stockman has ever done. Everybody keeps
speculating on when new versions of the character are going to go Gregor
Samsa (only to be disappointed), and fanart of the character largely
consists of Baxterfly and nothing else.

--But
to me, turning into a fly doesn't define Baxter Stockman. The character
has been portrayed in different ways in different media, with only his
profession and the Mousers being totally consistent. This particular
transformation is confined to a single era of TMNT, and so is hardly
defining when it’s a number’s game.

--Of
course, I know Baxterfly became paramount because of how
nostalgia-driven the TMNT fandom can be. Anything from the era of the
initial media blitz is defined by childhood, where the old cartoon and
original toyline were the only things one knew, and when mutants were
always more interesting than human characters. Naturally, everyone is
going to remember him as a fly first.

--Baxter's new personality also probably makes him a more appealing character, which I'll discuss below.

--Even
so, I don’t think of ol' Cracker Stockman as a fly. The first reason is
because, while I do like Baxterfly, he's the nadir, the absolute
endpoint of the character's failure, with so much built up before that.
He started out as a human character, and had an equal amount of screen
time in both forms.

--Furthermore, I love broken, fucked-up characters, and it’s easier to
get that vibe off human Baxter, that sense of failure beyond just being
the "bad guy" and therefore doomed to lose. Baxterfly can also be seen
this way, but is more your comical B-Movie villain swearing “Rrrevenge!”
on those that wronged him, than that type of nebbish little wreck that I
often enjoy in fiction.

--Okay, on with the real episode:

--I
always liked that despite his goofiness, Baxter's inventions usually
worked, because it's an engaging contrast. That the ray thingy doesn't
work is for plot convenience, to directly motivate the Shredder throwing
out Baxter. But it fits him, because Baxter is a failure.

--"[...]
reverse the polarity"--David Wise didn't write this episode, but
there's his standard Dr. Who reference. I wish I'd gotten into that
franchise....

--Why
does Splinter have a microwave in his meditation room, with a
convenient pizza right next to his tatami mat? Not to mention that he is
meditating in a different room than his usual one, but that is a
standard cartoon inconsistency.

--Splinter
looks perpetually sad for a good part of this episode, even before
April’s collapse, which is interesting. I'm supposing it's to show that
he's worried about the Shredder's scheme, even if said scheme is now
relegated to the status of "decoy" plot. If that's true, points for
consistency.

--I
love Shredder's line while on the garbage barge, explaining why there
are there: "Becasue this is the site [Krang] chose for the
trans-dimensional convergence. I think he did it just to annoy me!" The
writers really struck comedy gold with the Krang / Shredder dynamic.

--I
know a lot of other viewers believe Baxter's fate was written by his
actions in "Curse of the Evil Eye", but if it were, the Shredder would
have had no reason to wait to act, especially not with "The Case of the
Killer Pizzas" happening between these two episodes. The writers just
didn’t care about following up on Baxter’s punishment.

--I'm
not too agitated though: I’m very aware of the principle that even
goofy cartoon villains should be held to standards, but I can make an
exception just this once. I'd rather have Baxter around for a bit more
rather than have FW Shredder actually do something proactive.

--I
understand why Baxter was mutated, I understand why Bebop and
Rocksteady were kept around longer, and why the latter were brought back
into the spotlight and might always have intended to be: mutant
characters, and "manly" (speaking relatively) mutants, especially, would
be more interesting to the target audience.

--The
way the Shredder refers to April as the Turtles' "weakest point" means
the writers aren't even trying to hide the fact that April is put down
because of her gender.

--But
the plan is sort of clever. It's like the Shredder knows the stupidity
of everyone in this universe, so that April would not be at all
suspicious of a mysterious package even though she's been a target of
supervillains before.

--Not that fans ever need the fuel, but I wonder if the flower trap didn't endear at least some to the idea of Shredder x April.

--Splinter still looks sad when April opens the door. Then he has something else to be sad about.

--I
actually like that April establishes herself as uninterested in a
potential love affair with any of the Turtles, which is what she thinks
the flowers represent. You so rarely see fantasy fiction consider the
idea that hey, maybe a human woman wouldn't' be interested in the
affections of a being that wasn't human. Which ties into lots of issues
about double standards that I won't get into here.

--And
hey, while I don't take back anything I've ever said against FW April,
at least she is not relegated to the role of "love interest" because of
this, which is also sadly rare.

--Also, "doku" is Japanese for "poison". How literal-minded.

--I
don't take FW Baxter's life and fate 100% earnestly as something sad
and terrible, but in this happy little cartoon universe, Krang was going
to kill him in cold blood. That’s pretty fucked up.

--(And then part of me finds that incongruity hilarious)

---I
always think it a little ridiculous when Shredder and Krang refer to
themselves as "scientists" at various points. They never show much
evidence of these skills, and it's overkill to think they would have
these specializations on top of being supervillain leaders.

--While
I love David Cronenberg's "The Fly" preceding and independent of any
interest in Baxter Stockman, I’m certain Baxterfly draws more on the
original 1958 "The Fly". It’s the TMNT cartoon's parodies of older
monster movies, the running gag of Baxter squealing "Help me!", the
classic Fly having human clothing, and that the teleportation device in
the original film was called the "disintegrator-integrator" which is
probably reflected in the name of the Technodrome's disintegrator unit.
All of it adds up, but I can’t help associating him with Cronenberg’s
version anyway. “Baxterfly” is a play on “Brundlefly”, after all.

--I also like Baxterfly's cartoon design, because it's accidentally
adorable/goofy-looking, and bright and colourful. I prefer it over the
visual experiments to create a "darker" Baxterfly, or even the look of
the toy.

--In the scene where the Turtles enter and first see April in the sickbed, Splinter is drawn with very strange, deer-like ears.

--"And
you let [Baxter] escape through the portal? Brilliant!" / "I didn't
have to warn you, you know." More great stuff from Shredder and Krang.

--Now,
as to why viewers might prefer Baxtefly beyond "mutants are cool",
well, the contrast between the weak and passive Baxter and the angry and
active Baxterfly is amusing, and could also get viewers' attention. He
blows away two Rock Soldiers, and zips right towards his former
employers, ready to attack. Even later, when the computer is the one
leading him, Baxter still finds time to be an active threat. That
probably makes him a more "worthwhile" villain to viewers.

--However,
we can already see the other ways Baxter's personality will alter, as
he's easily duped by the Shredder, and points out, "You always liked
these mutants better!". He gets even dumber, acts more like a child,
etc. But other viewers might actually like it more when Baxter becomes
even sillier, but without being as whiny as before. Together, this makes
the character more interesting.

--But
I always go back to the 4Kids Stockman, who is the best version of
Baxter Stockman and who has a lot of traits in common with FW Baxter.
Stockman’s personality was kept consistent with his transformation, and
that's the personal ideal for me, because it builds a stronger character
arc.

--However,
it’s still good to pre-establish a human character before he mutates so
that his transformation can have some impact on the character if not
the plot. I understand why that's usually not feasible for a TMNT
show--gotta get those toys on the shelves!--but I'm glad it happened
here.

--Insect eyes don't see in individual facets.

--Lest we forget, "the bughouse" is also slang for an insane asylum.

--"Enter
the Fly" is one of the old cartoon's better attempts to pull off having
an A and B plot, but despite that, and despite the need to be strapped
for time, the fact that the plant is right where they thought it would
be is a little annoying.

--The
Knucklehead's controls look like an adding machine, which is pretty
funny, though maybe whoever desiged the props was just lazy. Because
Shredder also has a laser-shooting device that looks like a camera.

--There
are some nice fight sequences scattered through this episode, though it
starts to get less interesting near the end, when it’s just a bunch of
fight scenes.

--Shredder
makes a slight "^_^" face when he realizes he still has the gazai
plant. Actually, he makes that face several times in this episode.

--Splinter
establishes a message of perseverance, and the Turtles vow to leave no
stone unturned in their search, but Shredder conveniently shows up to
give them a way to go. Uhmm...the principle is still valuable?

--I
love what a cynical bastard Fred Wolf Raphael is. If Raphael’s sarcasm
and sassiness wasn't just a Fred Wolf invention, he might have had a
chance at becoming my favourite Turtle. As it is, I still don't have
one, and it's not for lack of trying.

--Yes,
I suppose Shredder doesn't have to sacrifice all his strategic thinking
in the name of goofiness, but I'm not all that invested in seeing this
balance kept. Lord knows I didn't come here

--Splinter
showing up in the Turtle Van is great. Like I said, I love it when the
secondary characters and "sidekicks" show up to help the main heroes
instead of passively sitting around. Also, my inner child loves seeing
Splinter get into the fray.

--And
Splinter blushing is super-adorable. I can guess that Mirage purists
probably at one point screamed at seeing Splinter described as "someone
who doesn't believe in violence". Cry more!

--Ah
jeez, another episode that ends with the apparent return of a threat,
only for it to be something completely harmless. Somebody, somewhere,
must have a tally of how many times the Fred Wolf show did this.

--I know some would have preferred Baxter remain one of the Shredder's minions, but I disagree for a bunch of reasons.

--First,
it’s pointless to change a character’s form and personality but not his
role. I know it was all predestined for marketing purposes, but even
so....

--Second,
some fun stories are told with Baxter as a wild card, working against
both the heroes and the villains. I especially love his relationship
with the alien computer, because of how bizarre and ambiguous (by this
series' standards) it is. That’s better than his just being a henchman.

--It
might also have been awkward for Baxter to keep hanging around the
people who kicked his ass on a daily basis and then tried to kill him,
but it’s easy to imagine Baxter being permanently lured into service
with the promise of becoming human again, episode after episode, since
he constantly gets fooled already.

--Not
that a few more episodes with Baxter Stockman wouldn’t have been
welcome, but he’s better as a recurring character than a regular.

--(And I never expected true closure for him, by the way. Or a return to human form.)

--So,
while I like White Baxter a little more as a human, Baxterfly is still
fun, and this is a good episode. It uses an A and B plot to mostly good
effect, has some nice pacing and action sequences, and yeah, it’s pretty
fun.